From Your Arm, To My Sides

Understandable

Cold air slowly seeped into the boy's communal showers, matching the frigid dread as it clawed it's way up Todoroki's spine. Bakugou stood in the doorway for a moment, staring blatantly at the other before stepping into the room fully. Bringing the door closed behind him with a dull thud.

Todoroki feebly pulled his shirt closer to him, delicately hiding his right arm away from sight. he felt as if his body were a million miles away, barely responding to his intentions to move. To hide himself. To get away from where people could see what he'd done. Todoroki only took showers early in the morning or late at night in order to do so where others couldn't see; yet, against all odds, here Bakugou was. Looking at him.

Todoroki's head lowered gradually towards the ground; probably from some twisted sense of shame, although articulating any sort of rational thought at that moment would be difficult.

"What the fuck, Icyhot." And just like that, Todoroki was in his body again, with complete control over all extremities... And sprinting for the relative safety of his abandoned shower stall. "Wait! Fuck! " The lock clicked closed. Todoroki backing up as Bakugou too rushed his way over.

As Bakugou banged on the stall door, Todoroki shakily slid down the opposing wall. "Fucking shit! Oi! Open up you cold ass mother of fuck!" Bakugou's voice sounded strained, from what Shouto could hear over the rushing in his ears anyway. 

He knew that if he opened the door, if Bakugou got in, that he'd want to see, see what he'd done to himself. He felt bad about it already, so much so that the thought of showing anyone was a sickening one.

Faintly he could feel his blunt fingernails digging into his arms as he panicked, right over the reddened skin that contrasted so starkly with the paler tone the rest of his skin took. 

His nails dug deeper. The banging against the door got louder.

God. This was kind of pathetic, wasn't it? Hiding away while Bakugou fucking Katsuki of all people showed something that could be interpreted as concern, instead of his usual blatant fury at the world.

His hands ached. The banging stopped.

Why was he like this?

BANG!

Todoroki jolted up as Bakugou dropped to his knees in front of him, his knee-caps making a horrible sound as they slammed against the tile. Bakugou ripped Todoroki's fingers away from the grooves they'd made in his skin, instead holding them away from himself and in-between his blistered own.

"Just fucking listen to me, will ya." Bakugou mumbled, any and all bite  he might have had long gone. His voice now sounded so gentle, a whisper compared to the brash tone Todoroki was accustomed to. It was oddly soothing to him, even as the other spoke over his uneven panting breaths.

Bakugou moved his hand in order to hold both of Todoroki's with only one, gripping the back of Shouto's neck with his other. He gently knocked their foreheads together.

"Fucking calm down." Bakugou tightened his hold. Todoroki heaved, tears finally escaping as he came down from the panic. Katsuki only brought them closer together; his nails lightly dug into his neck, it was nothing like his own nails. The marks they had left stung with a vengeance. "You're gonna be okay, got it?"

Todoroki gulped, trying to force words through his closed up throat. "How... How do you... you know t-that?" He tugged one of his hands out of Bakugou's hold, moving it down to grip his wrist in kind. Both of their arms shook mid-air.

"Cause I'm going through this too, you shithead." He leant away slightly, taking the hand on Todoroki's neck off and pulling his shirt up, just enough to show off the red marks on his own skin. His sides were littered with bright angry hand prints. "And like Hell am I gonna let this break me." 

Letting the fabric once again hide his short comings, he ran his hand lightly over Todoroki's own. In quick succession he hooked his arm around Shouto's shoulders and brought him into a rough hug, as tight as Todoroki's voice as he sobbed out a laugh. Shouto could feel something distinctly wet on his shoulder, but had the piece of mind not to mention it.

"So like fuck is it gonna break you."